Tourist Named A Suspect In Girlfriend`s Slaying

October 31, 1987|By TOM LASSITER, Miami Bureau

MIAMI -- A German tourist whose girlfriend was shot to death Sunday has been jailed on federal gun violations and remains under suspicion in the death of his girlfriend, an assistant U.S. attorney said on Friday.

Dieter Riechmann, 43, of Hamburg, West Germany, is being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lieu of $150,000 bond.

His possible link to the shooting death of Kersten Kischnick, 31, was raised during a bond hearing on Friday in U.S. District Court. Riechmann told police a man shot Kischnick when the couple stopped to ask for directions.

``The defendant is not yet cleared as a suspect in that case,`` Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Jung told U.S. Magistrate Linnea Johnson.

During the hearing, Jung revealed that Riechmann has had business dealings in Saudia Arabia and has access to bank accounts in Zurich, Switzerland. He noted that Riechmann, who entered the country on Oct. 2, had a ticket on a Friday flight to Germany.

Riechmann has entered the U.S. three times in the last two years, according to an affidavit. The affidavit was attached to the criminal complaint charging Riechmann with making a false statement to a gun dealer when he bought a .38- caliber derringer on Oct. 9.

Riechmann came to the attention of police when he flagged down an officer on Sunday and reported that Kischnick had just been shot during a robbery attempt, said Miami Beach police Sgt. James Mazer.

The woman was slumped dead in the front seat of the car.

Riechmann told the officer that the couple was returning from Bayside Marketplace when they got lost and stopped to ask for directions, Mazer said. A man approached the car, leaned in and shot Kischnick, Riechmann told police.

He has been unable to tell police whether the shooting occurred in Miami or Miami Beach, Mazer said.

Armed with a warrant, Miami Beach police searched Riechmann`s room at the Tahiti Motel on Collins Avenue the day after the shooting. Mazer said police found three handguns, including the one-shot derringer.

According to the complaint, Riechmann used a Florida driver`s license in his name that listed a non-existent Miami Beach address when buying the derringer. He purchased the gun at the National Gun Store in southwest Dade County.